Leonardo
ARCADIA — Cory-Rawson and Arcadia combined to run 123 offensive plays Saturday afternoon. One play made the difference in the game and perhaps the fortunes of the two teams for the rest of the season.
Cory-Rawson’s Cody Thacker pounced on a fumble deep in Redskins territory early in the fourth quarter, and the Hornets used that as a springboard to a 21-point final frame and escape with a 28-21 victory in a Blanchard Valley Conference game.
James Rader’s 12-yard touchdown run with 1:12 remaining was the game-winning score as Cory-Rawson improved to 3-2 overall, 2-2 BVC. Arcadia dropped to 2-3, 1-3.
Arcadia used a couple of big second-quarter pass plays and a stingy defense that forced a key third-quarter turnover to forge a 21-7 lead.
As the fourth quarter opened, Arcadia faced second-and-6 on its 25. Quarterback Casey Mock rolled right and tossed an option pitch that sailed into the backfield.
Thacker recovered the fumble, and the Hornets were in business.
“I was thinking, we have to get the ball back on offense,” Cory-Rawson quarterback Jeremiah Alspach said. “We just needed the ball.”
“That’s when it started to snowball a little bit,” Arcadia coach Paul Shoemaker said. “We’re still getting to the point where we can can recover mentally from those kinds of things. We’re almost there, but we’re not quite there yet.”
Alspach hit Jacob Rehm on a 5-yard scoring strike and the Hornets were within 21-14 with 10:23 left in the game.